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Travelling Around The USA With Contiki (Pt. 3)

DAY 14 (New Orleans):New Orleans is incredible. The city is known for its rich history and scrumptious food. As a foodie, I knew that I had to taste their world famous beignets, which is basically a pastry made from deep-fried choux pastry.

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Similarly, the city is beautiful. The architecture is simply sublime. It was incredible just walking through the streets, to be completely honest!

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DAY 15 (New Orleans):New Orleans Swamp Tours are particularly popular in this city, so naturally, I had to do it. We were all divided into smaller groups and placed in various airboats. These tours are centred around the alligators in the swamp. And trust me, we saw many! We even got to hold a baby alligator (who happened to be quite cute!) The fun didn’t stop here – we caught Nick Jonas filming his latest music video on Bourbon Street!

DAY 16 (Alabama/Panama City Beach):On our way to Panama City Beach, we stopped at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, which is a is a military history park and museum located on the western shore of Mobile Bay in Mobile, Alabama.

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After our short stop in Alabama, we were off to Panama City Beach! This city is known for its influx of college students during the infamous Spring Break. Consequently, the rest of the day was spent chilling on the beautiful white beaches, followed by dinner at Hofbräuhaus; a delicious German restaurant.

DAY 17 (Orlando):We arrived at our Orlando hotel in the afternoon and half of us headed off to the Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets. I ended up spending most of my spending money at the Nike outlet buying gifts for my family. The bargains are unreal! It may seem ridiculous, but I’m pretty sure I was there until midnight!

DAY 18 (Orlando):When in Orlando, go to a theme park, am I right? I certainly am! We all drove to Universal Orlando and had the most incredible time! As a Harry Potter nerd, I was in absolute awe of Harry Potter World! This part of the amusement park is literally an exact replica of the settings in the films! It is extraordinary! The rides were amazing here too, but in all honesty, I was totally fine with just walking through the streets. I even tasted the famous ‘Butterbeer’, which was scrumptious! I really could’ve gone for a second!

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The awesomeness of Universal Studios doesn’t end there! They also have a part of the park dedicated to The Simpsons. Once again, its an exact replica of the various stores from the television show! It is extraordinary! I felt like I was in the show! All in all, Universal was incredible!

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At around 7pm, we arrived back at our hotel and headed to iHOP (International House of Pancakes). All I can say it – yum! I had red velvet pancakes and can honestly say they were three of the most amazing pancakes I have ever tasted. Despite our exhaustion, a few of us walked to the local putt-putt golf attraction and played a round of mini golf to end the day.

DAY 19 (Miami):After a relatively shorter drive to Miami, we embarked on our first adventure for the city – the speed boat tours (Thriller)! This trip takes you on a 45-minute off-shore journey through the waters of South Beach & Downtown Miami where you pass the beautiful houses of the rich and famous.

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That night, we all got together to go on a Miami Party Cruise with our fellow Contiki buddies. We all got four free drinks (score!) and a sensational view of Miami at night. After the cruise, we all headed off to a true Miami nightclub!

DAY 20 (Miami):Apparently, you can’t visit Miami without browsing through the Kardashians’ store, DASH. As a result, a few of us walked here and browsed through some of the shops. It was such a relaxing, beautiful day just going at our own pace in such a beautiful city! To end the day, we sat on our hotel’s rooftop and watched the sunset. It was gorgeous!

DAY 21 (Daytona Beach):Daytona Beach was another place where I’d be ticking off yet another item off my bucket list: parasailing! I’m not going to go into too much detail, as words simply do not do this wonderful experience justice. It was the most incredible 15-minutes of my life being in the air, and even more fun just sitting on the boat and watching everybody else do it! It’s an experience I will cherish for eternity.

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Later that day, a few of us walked down to the boardwalk to do some go-karting (another first for me!) and play some arcade games! It was so much fun and a great end to a phenomenal day!